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AS A PILOT, one of the tools in your flight bag is the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), otherwise known as the “NASA report.” It’s a program designed to get valuable information about what is going on in the aviation ecosystem from those who are actually using the system. The information helps bring about changes that benefit us all. But the best part is you may possibly “get out of jail free” by sharing the information.

ASRS enables pilots to identify safety hazards in operating practices, chart terminology, weather briefings, instruments, emergency procedures, medical issues, or any other aspect of flying. By filing a and analyzed by NASA to create valuable data useful in making appropriate modifications to the system to avoid future mishaps.

Once the report is received and NASA enters the objective data into its system, the report and any personally identifying information is destroyed, preserving your anonymity. There are two very important exceptions that prevent NASA from keeping your information confidential; that is, if the report involves an accident or a criminal act, then the report will not be de-identified but will be sent in its entirety to the proper authorities such as the FAA, the NTSB, or the Department of Justice. I recommend that members of the AOPA Legal Services Plan/Pilot Protection Services contact the plan before filing a NASA report that may involve an accident or criminal act.

The form that you complete can be mailed or submitted through the Internet. The printed form has two parts. One part is a strip, on which the reporter records his or her name and address, and when NASA receives the report by mail, this strip is removed, date-stamped, and returned to the reporter. If the report is submitted electronically, a confirmation page is provided and must be printed out before you log off. The other part of the form is a survey that requests detailed information on the event or situation.

To learn more about AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services or to enroll, visit the website.

Kathy Yodice is an aviation attorney for AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services and Legal Services Plan. She has assisted AOPA members for more than 13 years and is a former FAA attorney. Yodice owns a Cherokee 180 and has been a pilot since 1994.

The name game
Being added to an insurance policy
by Janet C. Bressler

BEING ADDED TO a friend’s policy as a “named pilot” is a great thing. Most of us wish we had more of these kinds of friends. So what does it mean to be a Named Pilot? Simply put, you have been specifically approved by the underwriter insuring your friend’s aircraft to fly their plane without voiding their coverage.

There may be some additional requirements you need to follow such as a checkout with a CFI or a few hours of dual logged in the make and model before you are fully cleared. Those types of conditions should be directly communicated to your friend, as the policyholder, by their insurance broker before they allow you to fire up the engine. Your friend in turn should make sure you are aware of and abide by any additional requirements put in place by the insurance carrier. If such added terms exist, it is always a good idea for you and your friend to make a quick joint call to the insurance broker on the policy to run through the requirements and be able to ask any questions before you takeoff.

Being a Named Pilot does not automatically also name you as an Additional Insured on the policy. Being a named pilot certainly provides protection to your friend as the policyholder so their coverage is not invalidated (and your friendship is preserved) if there is a covered loss when you are flying. But it does not provide any extension of liability protection to you individually.

In order to cover your bases when flying a friend’s aircraft, you should be both a Named Pilot and be named on the policy as an Additional Insured. The Additional Insured provision is the part that extends the same liability protection to you from lawsuits brought by others as the policy- holder is afforded.

Most aviation insurance carriers do not charge for adding Named Pilots or Additional Insureds to a personal aircraft insurance policy. It takes just a little time with your friend and their insurance broker to line up the information that would be needed to work through the process of becoming both a Named Pilot and an Additional Insured. I promise it will be time well spent in protecting you, your friend and your friendship. Visit us online for more information.